Temple University Athletics
MEN'S BASKETBALL DOWNS GEORGETOWN, 59-53, TO MOVE ABOVE .500 MARK
2.14.04 | Men's Basketball
All-America candidate David Hawkins, who entered the game ranked third nationally with a 24.1 points-per-game scoring average, deposited a game-high 28 points, marking the 16th straight contest he has exceeded the 20-point plateau. The Washington, D.C. native, who spent 36 minutes on the hardwood, scored 19 points before halftime. In addition to his typical scoring punch, the senior team captain also provided several highlight-reel plays, including a slam dunk over two potential Hoya rebounders off of a Temple miss with 5:28 remaining in the game.
Georgetown, which held the lead for over 10 minutes in the initial stanza, shot just 31.5 percent (17-54) on the afternoon and missed its first 12 attempts from the field after the break. The Hoyas were confounded by the Owls' match-up zone and committed 18 turnovers. Despite their offensive struggles, the Hoyas were never out of the contest, and trailed by just four points after an Ashanti Cook three-pointer registered a 54-50 score with 1:07 remaining in the game.
A pair of Hawkins free throws extended the Owls' lead to six before Cook again connected from behind the arc to reduce the edge to three points, 56-53, with 0:23 on the clock. On Temple's next possession, Hawkins found himself at the charity stripe once again and the result was deja vu, as both attempts traveled through the hoop with 0:19 seconds remaining to squelch any hope of a last second comeback by the visitors.
Temple controlled the pace and the scoreboard for the better part of the second half before the Hoyas decided to make things interesting late before a crowd of 6,795. The Owls largest lead of the contest, 14 points, occurred twice midway through the second stanza. The Hoyas reduced the lead to under 10 points for good with 2:09 remaining on a Courtland Freeman lay-up.
Georgetown jumped out to an early 10-1 lead, as the Hoyas made four of their first six shots. Hawkins stopped the visitors' 7-0 run to open the contest with a free throw as 17:29 showed on the first half clock. Three minutes later, he reduced the lead to four points, 10-6, after drawing a foul while in the midst of making a jump shot and later converting from the charity stripe to complete the three-point play. The senior then tied the game at 10 to cap a nine-point TU run as the Hoyas missed eight consecutive attempts from the field.
Temple took its first lead of the afternoon, 15-14, on a Michael Blackshear fast break slam dunk off an assist from Mardy Collins, who made a trio of consecutive steals. Blackshear would later be ejected from the game by Chaney following an intentional foul with 8:50 remaining in the game.
After Collins' third steal, Hawkins converted his second three-point-play of the first stanza after getting fouled on a driving lay-up to give TU an 18-14 edge with 8:15 remaining before intermission.
The Owls entered the locker room at the midpoint with a 29-23 advantage after scoring the first half's final five points. The Hoyas committed 15 turnovers prior to the break as Temple generated eight steals. The Cherry & White shot 34.6 percent (9-26), making just one of 11 attempts from behind the arc, in the initial stanza. Georgetown shot just 32.1 percent (9-28) from the field in the first 20 minutes.
Collins, who spent the entire 40 minutes on the hardwood and entered the contest averaging 38.3 minutes-per-game, scored 17 points to join Hawkins in double figures. Georgetown was led in the scoring column by Gerald Riley, who scored 15 points
Temple, which posted its 32nd straight win when out-shooting its opponent, returns to the hardwood this Wednesday, Feb. 18, in a 7:00 p.m. tip-off versus Duquesne at the Liacouras Center. The match-up will not be televised. The contest will mark the 45th meeting between the schools with the Owls holding a 32-12 advantage in victories. The Dukes defeated the Owls, 61-54, last season in Pittsburgh to snap an eight-game losing streak to the Cherry & White.
